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October 2015
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Hackaday SuperConference — Apply Now to Attend

In the beginning there were simple circuits, and it was good. Our technology has advanced, our hardware prowess must advance in kind. The Hackaday SuperConference is the hardware con you’ve been waiting for. Experience spectacular presentations that move hardware creation forward while being surrounded by inspired hackers, designers, and engineers.

There are numerous serious professionals in the Hackaday Community pulling off amazing things that easily rank as world-class. It’s time to assemble our talent and spread those skills to others looking to grow their own repertoire. This is practical, hands-on learning. Many of the sessions will be workshops where you …read more

The USB Killer, Version 2.0

There are a lot of stupid things you can do with the ports on your computer. The best example is the Etherkiller, an RJ45 plug wired directly to a mains cable. Do not plug that into a router. USB is a little trickier, but with a sufficient number of caps, anyone can build a USB killer that will fry any computer (.ru, Google Translatrix)

The USB Killer v2.0 is [Dark Purple]’s second version of this device. The first version was just a small board with a DC/DC converter, a few caps, and a FET. When plugged in to a computer, …read more

ARMing a Breadboard — Everyone Should Program an ARM

I’m always a little surprised that we don’t see more ARM-based projects. Of course, we do see some, but the volume isn’t what I’d expect given that low-level ARM chips are cheap, capable, low power, and readily available. Having a 32-bit processor with lots of memory running at 40 or 50 MIPS is a game changer compared to, say, a traditional Arduino (and, yes, the Arduino Due and Zero are ARM-based, so you can still stay with Arduino, if that’s what you want).

A few things might inhibit an Arduino, AVR, or PIC user from making the leap. For one …read more

Get Your Internet Out of My Things

2014 was the year that the Internet of Things (IoT) reached the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” on the Gartner Hype Cycle. By 2015, it had only moved a tiny bit, towards the “Trough of Disillusionment”. We’re going to try to push it over the edge.

Depending on whom you ask, the IoT seems to mean that whatever the thing is, it’s got a tiny computer inside with an Internet connection and is sending or receiving data autonomously. Put a computer in your toaster and hook it up to the Internet! Your thermostat? Hook it up to the Internet!? Yoga mat? …read more

How Analog Tide Predictors Changed Human History

If you’re completely landlocked like I am, you may dream of ocean waves lapping at the shore, but you probably don’t think much about the tides. The movement of the ocean tides is actually quite important to many groups of people, from fishermen to surfers to coastal zone engineers. The behavior of the tides over time is helpful data for those who study world climate change.

Early tide prediction was based on observed changes in relation to the phases of the Moon. These days, tide-predicting is done quickly and with digital computers. But the first purpose-built machines were slow yet …read more

From The Blog

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  • Tiny PIC Clock is Not a Tiny Bomb

    3 Comments

    By Bryan Cockfield | October 13, 2015

    It’s been a few weeks since the incident where Ahmed Mohamed, a student, had one of his inventions mistaken for a bomb by his school and the police, despite the device clearly being a clock. We asked for submissions of all of your clock builds to show our support for Ahmed, and the latest one is the tiniest yet but still has all of the features of a full-sized clock (none of which is explosions).

    [Markus]’s tiny clock uses a PIC24 which is a small yet powerful chip. The timekeeping is done on an RTCC peripheral, and the clock’s seven …read more

  • DARE To Fly: Live Coverage Of A 50KM Rocket Launch

    No comments

    By Richard Baguley | October 12, 2015

    We wrote about the Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering (DARE) project recently: a group of students at Delft Technical University who are trying to launch a rocket to 50kM, breaking the European amateur rocketry record. Now, the group is close to their latest launch attempt, which is scheduled to take place from their launch base in Spain between the 14th and the 20th of October.

    Launch preparations are underway, with the team working through a 10,000 point pre-launch checklist. Last year, their launch failed because of a leaking valve, but the amateur engineers have just successfully completed a pressure test using …read more

  • Internet-Connected Box Displays Emotion, Basement Dwellers Still Unaffected

    5 Comments

    By Brian Benchoff | October 12, 2015

    For one reason or another, Twitter has become the modern zeitgeist, chronicling the latest fashions, news, gossip, and irrelevant content that sends us spiraling towards an inevitable existential ennui. This is a Twitter mood light. It tells you what everyone else on the planet is feeling. You, of course, feel nothing. Because of the ennui.

    [Connor] decided it would be a good idea to audit the world’s collective mood using experimental social analytics. He’s doing that by watching millions of tweets a day and checking them against hundreds of keywords for several emotions. These emotions are graphed in real time, …read more

  • Passive, but not Innocuous

    9 Comments

    By Elliot Williams | October 12, 2015

    Maxim Integrated recently posted a series of application notes chronicling how there’s more going on than you’d think in even the simplest “passive” components. Nothing’s safe: capacitors, resistors, and even printed circuit boards can all behave in non-ideal ways, and that can bite you in the reflow-oven if you’re not aware of them.

    You might already know that capacitors have an equivalent series resistance that limits how fast they can discharge, and an equivalent inductance that models departures from ideal behavior at higher frequencies. But did you know that ceramic capacitors can also act like voltage sources, acting piezoelectrically under …read more

  • Quick and easy Thermic Lance is hot Enough to melt Rocks

    27 Comments

    By Dan Maloney | October 12, 2015

    Heat can be a hacker’s best friend. A little heat can help release a stubborn nut cleanly, and a lot of heat can melt a rusty bolt clean off. An oxy-acetylene torch is handy for these applications, but if you need a more portable setup, and you want enough heat to melt rocks, you might want to look into this field-expedient thermic lance.

    Thermic lances have been around a long time in the demolition industry, where cutting steel quickly is a common chore. Commercial thermic lances are just a bundle of steel fuel rods which are set on fire while …read more

  • CyberPunk Yourself – Body Modification, Augmentation, and Grinders

    72 Comments

    By Cameron Coward | October 12, 2015

    “We accept pain as a price of doing business, even if it is just for aesthetic purposes. You want to put a magnet in your finger, a doctor will ask you why; a mod artist will ask when you can start.” As with many other people who are part of the growing grinder movement, [Adam] has taken a step that many would consider extreme – he’s begun to augment his body.

    Grinders – men and women who hack their own bodies – are pushing the boundaries of what is currently possible when it comes to human augmentation. They’re hackers at …read more

  • Wireless Rocket Motor Analyzer Tests Rockets, Saves Fingers

    14 Comments

    By Richard Baguley | October 12, 2015

    Testing rocket motors is a dangerous business, as they have an annoying habit of releasing all of that energy a little quicker than you might like. [Jeff Hopkins] knows this, so he made his own wireless rocket motor analyzer that allows him to trigger, test and monitor rocket motors from a safe distance. This involves more than just pushing a button and watching them go whoosh: his platform measures the thrust of the prototype over 90 times a second and transmits this data to him remotely for logging and later analysis. His current prototype can measure engines with up to …read more

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  • CyberPunk Yourself – Body Modification, Augmentation, and Grinders

    72 Comments
  • Hackaday SuperConference — Apply Now to Attend

    26 Comments
  • ARMing a Breadboard — Everyone Should Program an ARM

    135 Comments
  • Get Your Internet Out of My Things

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  • How Analog Tide Predictors Changed Human History

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Recent comments

  • Martin on The USB Killer, Version 2.0
  • Hopo28 on Passive, but not Innocuous
  • Hopo28 on Passive, but not Innocuous
  • jack laidlaw on Tiny PIC Clock is Not a Tiny Bomb
  • jack laidlaw on Quick and easy Thermic Lance is hot Enough to melt Rocks
  • Sam (@samwhiteUK) on Internet-Connected Box Displays Emotion, Basement Dwellers Still Unaffected
  • FrankenPC on Vintage Computer Fest: Berlin 2015
  • steve.eh on Quick and easy Thermic Lance is hot Enough to melt Rocks
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